Various law enforcement agencies engage in the pursuit of vehicles. Although the majority of drivers cooperate with law enforcement, on many occasions the drivers refuse to do so, and attempt to escape from authorities. These drivers are often chased by authorities attempting to subdue them at high speeds (“hot pursuit”). Although the reasons for fleeing may vary, most often these hot pursuits involve tracking of vehicles which may have been, for example, used in the commission of a crime, may have been stolen, whose occupants may have been engaged in criminal activity and are fleeing a crime scene, etc. A major problem associated with law enforcement's hot pursuit of fleeing vehicles is the risk of injury to police personnel involved in the chase, risk to the occupants of the fleeing vehicle, and more importantly, the risk of injury to the public because these hot pursuits are occurring on public streets and highways. The news media frequently report about individuals who have been killed or injured when they or a vehicle they were in was struck by either a fleeing vehicle, or by the pursuing law enforcement vehicle. So, there is a need to be able to track fleeing vehicles, or individuals in a safer manner than has previously been the case.
Numerous law enforcement vehicles may simultaneously be pursuing the same vehicle, and they are informed by radio or similar means of communication of the fleeing vehicle's position by the observations of personnel in a pursuing vehicle. A helicopter or other aircraft may monitor the fleeing vehicle's location in some instances and report the location to pursuit vehicles on the ground. A limitation of visual observation, however, is that the fleeing vehicle may be lost if it gets out of sight of the tracking vehicle, the weather is bad and there is poor visibility, or at night.
Several solutions have been proposed in response to the dangers of high speed chases. A system commonly known as “stop sticks” is used by law enforcement personnel to disable a fleeing vehicle. The stop sticks are very dangerous. A “stop stick” is a long stick that has a series of spikes along its outer surface. Stop sticks are placed on the road in the path of a fleeing vehicle in order to puncture the vehicle's tires as it rolls over the stop sticks. The launching mechanism of these systems employs an explosive charge or a spring mechanism to launch the spiked projectile in front of the rear tires of the fleeing vehicle, thereby puncturing the tires as the vehicle rolls over the spiked projectile. However, stop sticks has several drawbacks. First, placing the spiked object in front of a high speed vehicle can be dangerous and haphazard. Second, the driver of the vehicle may lose control after its tires are punctured and may strike nearby pedestrians or police officers. Additionally, new tire designs are being introduced that are resistant to punctures and can function without air in them, negating the effectiveness of these devices.
Other systems are available which disable a vehicle in a controlled manner. Such systems often employ a remote vehicle disabling system comprising a receiver in a vehicle which cuts off the vehicle's fuel supply after receiving a signal from a transmitter. The fuel is cut off in stages so that the driver can bring the vehicle to a stop in a controller manner.
In lieu of disabling a vehicle, systems are available that track the location of a vehicle so that police may apprehend the driver at a later time. These systems track stolen or lost vehicles using hidden radio transponders in the vehicle, which upon receiving an activation signal transmits a return signal that enables the vehicle's location to be determined. These remote systems are generally designed to protect against the unauthorized use of an owner's vehicle, and require the installation of a receiver, GPS or otherwise, in the vehicle. Without the installation of a receiver, the police cannot track the vehicle's location.
Although high speed pursuits are often necessary to apprehend dangerous criminals, they often result in high speed collisions that cause serious or fatal injuries to the police, innocent motorists or pedestrians, and even the criminals being chased. Ironically, it is both the pursuit by the police and the criminal's desire not to be caught that fuel the high speed chase. Consequently, if there is no pursuit by the police, a high speed chase would not occur. However, if a law enforcement agency has a “no chase” policy, then the crime rate in that jurisdiction is likely to increase as a result. Therefore, a need exists for a system that law enforcement personnel can use to track the movement of a suspect motor vehicle, or an individual without encouraging a high speed chase. As described in detail below, the present invention provides such a system, which resolves the existing safety problems associated with high speed pursuits, and other similar problems.
In addition to the just-discussed problems associated with a high-speed police chase, there is yet another problem. In a high-speed chase situation, since the fleeing vehicle is not likely to stop for a red traffic light, it has the need to cross or pass all intersections it encounter, even if an intersection is controlled by a traffic signal. This must be accomplished in the least amount of time possible so that the fleeing vehicle can clear the intersection as quickly as possible.
In the case of a high-speed chase, the pursuing vehicles generally have their sirens on to warn drivers of the situation. In the case of a street intersection these sirens, horns, bells or other types of audible and/or visible warning devices alert other people in the intersection. This has not always proven to be a successful technique, even though it is still the standard mode of operation today. Unfortunately, accidents involving such fleeing vehicles, and even the pursuing vehicle, often occur at intersections due to confusion, impaired hearing, inattention, noise conditions or overly-aggressive drivers seeking to clear the intersection before the arrival of the situation. Other factors are the speed of the high-speed chase and the resulting inability of others to react to it, distractions affecting the driver of the fleeing vehicle, and the like. Further problems are caused when multiple vehicles are approaching the same intersection. This situation is further complicated when the sirens and other signals from multiple vehicles can be heard within the same area. This combination can be confusing to both pedestrians and other motorists. In many cases, due to siren noise and the intensity of focused driving at high speeds through congested areas, the drivers of the vehicles involved in the chase are often not aware of other vehicles in the same area.
Therefore, there is a need to control traffic in all directions along a route being taken during a high-speed chase.